To loop on 0 or char is easier in perl than in C++, despite being loosely typed. Try this:

use strict;

{
   print "Insert Employee Number: "; # Prompts the user
   my $empNum = <>; # Gets input from STDIN
   redo if $empNum == 0;
   print "The employee number you entered was: $empNum\n";
}
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See that redo works on any block, it doesn't have to be a loop as in the documentation. It also loops when you enter a char, because it is using a numeric equality operator.

-- iakobski